themanofhope

Sense8: Season 2 does a fantastic job at continuing the quality level work of Season 1 while also expanding upon the mythological story line of the show as well as expanding the overall scope. This was my most anticipated season of television this year and rightfully so. No series on television has grabbed me the way season 1 of Sense8 did since Breaking Bad. The characters and the emotion put behind each and every one of them is really what makes this series so great and Season 2 is no exception as the cluster is closer then ever. The cinematography and direction is gorgeous as usual. Every frame just looks so mesmerizing and perfect to the point where you could understand if they hung it in an art gallery. The acting is excellent on everyone's part and although Nomi still is the weakest character in the group she definitely grew on me and became a more likable and interesting character. The music montages this season were absolutely breathtaking and every song they put in the season gave me goosebumps from Gert Tabner's "In Need" to the show's new rendition of "What's Up". The story this season was also very engaging however some of the story line involving BPO and Whispers did get slightly over complicated. The action sequences were fantastic as usual however only two truly stood out in the season. The sequence involving Sun chasing her brother on a motorcycle and the sequence in which the cluster fights another cluster. However there wasn't one truly defining action sequence compared to some of the greats that the first season featured. The pacing was excellent throughout the entire season however the finale of the season did seem a bit too over bloated and rushed compared to the perfect pacing of its predecessors. In conclusion, Sense8 : Season 2 expands upon the fantastic story line of the first season while widening the scope of the narrative, with some of the best cinematography and direction currently on television, excellent performances, creative and beautiful musical montages with perfect pacing throughout although the finale did seem rushed.

Sense8: Season 2 gets a 9.6/10.

Sense8: A Christmas Special was actually my most excited episode of television for the year 2016, but the true question is did it hold up to my insanely high expectations? Without getting into spoiler territory I'm going to start off by saying this episode of Sense8 does not move the plot forward by much and has a much more lighthearted tone then previous episodes in the series. At the same time it does hint at a darker upcoming tone for Season 2 as all of the characters are facing much tougher times compared to when the show began. The episode is 2 hours long and at times it doesn't really feel like a regular Sense8 episode but more of a Sense8 film with many montage sequences, different pop songs while giving us everything we love about Sense8 in one go. The performances were perfect as usual although Nomi still seemed quite bland compared to the other characters. The story was just as engaging and the cinematography was simply beautiful. The show held up with its cinematic loom from Season 1 and the episode did have some of the best moments in he entire show's run. Highlights include the opening underwater sequence, the birthday-styled orgy, the Christmas sequence while Hallelujah was playing and the ending action sequence. The episode did somewhat lack on the action front as the entire episode only had one action sequence at the very end of the episode but at the same time, it was great. The episode's lighter tone did work in keeping touch with the spirit of Christmas and the episode did touch on a lot of values and morals regarding Christmas. It also served as an excellent entry point to a hopefully perfect second series by immersing us back into these 8 people's lives while setting up future plot points. The episode was a tad slow and there was some choppy editing and pacing issues but otherwise it was masterful.

Sense8: A Christmas Special gets a 9.3/10.

Smallville Season 5 is a huge step up from Season 4 and is much better than seasons 1 and 2. The season just had so much going for it. The show started introducing other DC superheroes like Aquaman and Cyborg, the first 3 episodes kicked in a small story arc with Clark losing and regaining his powers and the consequences he must face, the 100th episode was jaw dropping, Brainiac was an amazing villain for the season, Lex was truly becoming a threat and Clana was a lot less annoying in this season and kind of interesting Their were only 4 filler episodes but one of them was truly horrendous. The episode where Lana goes to the Vampire University was really bad and honestly reeked of a mega brain fart. Otherwise the season was amazing and completely washed out that horrible taste left in our mouths from season 4 while exciting us for what is to come. The season finale was so heart pounding and probably (so far haven't seen seasons 6-10) the second best after season 3 which is a really great spot to be at. The end with Metropolis burning down as chaos erupts and Lex being turned into Zod's vessel while Clark was thrown into the Phantom Zone was just so inexplicably good that barely any other episode of the show could top it.

If you decide to watch this spectacular show (although some episodes can make you say WTF) definitely buy or somehow watch Season 5. You won't regret it at all. Season 5 of Smallville gets a 9/10.